Here’s what you need to know about the sudden and mysterious death of TrueCrypt

Not just weirded out but truly Disturbing. TrueCrypt has shutdown. Outside of PGP, there or unix freeware alternatives there isn’t a free desktop full-disk encryption utility for Windows. This is like Lavabit.com vanishing into thin air. Wonder if it’s related to Edward Snowden like Lavabit was.

The web security scene is thoroughly weirded out following the abrupt and inexplicable closure of the TrueCrypt project.

TrueCrypt was an anonymously authored piece of disk encryption software that came well-recommended — even Edward Snowden was keen on teaching people how to use it. It allowed users to create hidden volumes whose very existence would only be revealed with a secret password. This “plausible deniability” aspect was designed to protect users facing physical or legal attackers, who would remain ignorant of the secret compartment’s existence and would therefore not start breaking kneecaps or threatening jail terms in order to find the password.

Any excuse for an XKCD comic:

So long…

Sometime on Wednesday, a message went up on the TrueCrypt web page, announcing that the software was “not secure as it may contain unfixed security issues,” before going on to state: